Seeing that is has been a very long time since I have posted anything, I suppose I should briefly catch up on events of the past 18 months.

First, I got divorced. 22 years, gone. The only thing I feel bad about is my 15 year old daughter. She is living with her mom, but spends quite a bit of time with me. Since her mom is actively out dating, my daughter sees a lot of guys around the place. And, since my ex is into messing around, there is a goodly amount of that going on as well. It does not make me very happy.

As for me, I am engaged. My fiancé is someone I have known for nearly 10 years. We had never dated before the divorce, but it seems that we have known for some time that we were going to be together. We just had never said or done anything about it.

In reality, I knew a very long time ago that my first marriage was not going to be the rest of my life. We just never really clicked. Oh we had some fun times and we had kids together, but we just didn’t like doing things together. And when it came apart, it came apart. That’s OK, I am not broken up about it at all. I have come to realize that getting away from a bad situation is good for the soul. Sometimes it takes a seriously strong kick to make the change.

My fiancé, Laura, is absolutely amazing. As I said, we have known each other for about 10 years. Her kids and my kids have known each other that long as well. That does not make it weird at all. Our kids are all very happy for us. Her marriage ended a couple years ago and she had pretty much resigned herself to a life alone. However, we found that we had very strong feelings for each other and decided to go with them. It is the best thing ever! Both of us have never been happier in our lives. Aside from being in love, we also have respect for and absolute trust in each other. That’s the way it should be. And with us, that’s the way it is.

Laura is an amazing cook. She has some incredible recipes, things I had never tried before, like corn patch casserole (chicken, corn, cornmeal and who knows what else). She makes a homemade spaghetti sauce in the crock pot that is incredible. The broccoli salad is fantastic. It is so nice to come home several nights each week to supper being made. And, on the days she works, I make the meals so she has that luxury of arriving home to supper. Of course, we often make our meals together and we also clean up and do the dishes together. That’s one thing I remember fondly from my grandparents, them working together to get the kitchen work done after the meals.

Laura takes care of the house and it is always clean. Not just clean, but sparkling clean. Everything has a place. The inside of her closet (and my dresser) look like clothing racks and shelves at Dillard’s. There is no lint or dust sitting around. Cleaning house is therapy for her and she does it well. There is no way I can emulate that level of OCD (and she admits she is OCD about it) but I do everything I can to make sure I put things away, do my part with the cooking, dishes, laundry, etc. (I don’t fold shirts. She has a way of doing it that I can’t duplicate and she will refold them anyway, so I leave them for her. She’s OK with that, flattered that I appreciate the way she does them.)

There is so much more, but most of all we love each other. And in a few months we will be married. That will be a fantastic day, one I look forward to.

Aside from the amazing relationship, I have been very busy with projects around the house. There has been a ton of stuff to do, some of it very necessary, but also some that make a difference in appearance as well as some ‘just because’ or fun stuff. I will be putting up some posts with some of these projects just because I am pleased with the way they have turned out. More important, Laura is happy with the results. And that’s the best reason to do them.

Well, we finally had to do it. My poor old truck was starting to fall apart and Crystal has been putting $60-70 per week in gas into it just to get to work and back. So we traded the truck on a 2002 Mitsubishi Galant. (We were looking at a 2000 Civic but it had 194,000 miles on it and we could not get it financed.) This one has 111,000 miles. Very clean and appears to be well maintained. Good tires too, so we will not have to worry about those for a couple years. So long as she takes care of it I think she will have a good car for a few years.

Front

Rear

It is always hard to tell until you drive a few thousand miles, but I think she ought to get 25 mpg or better. Our city driving around this town is largely in 1/2 or 1 mile stretches unless you are downtown, which she does not go to very much. For her two jobs, one is half freeway and half 1-mile stretches. The other job is not freeway, but those same mile-long breaks or longer. I see no reason why it would not do 25+ mpg. The only reason it would not match or beat my Camry (which is averaging 28+) is because the gearing allows the engine to turn 2400 rpm at 65 instead of the 2100 the Camry does. And lest you think I am comparing apples to oranges, the specs on these cars is nearly identical with the exception that the Camry is 125 pounds heavier and about 1.5 inches longer.

Karen was in Encore’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” the past couple of weeks. It is the story of a church that always puts on a Christmas Pageant, and it is the same thing every year. The same person runs it and the same people play the same parts. When the lady who always runs it is injured and in a wheelchair, Grace finds herself running the pageant. And somehow the Herdman kids, local juvenile delinquents, find themselves playing the roles of Mary, Joseph, wise men and the angel, much to everyone’s horror. Chaos follows and everyone is sure the pageant will be a flop. The Herdman kids are touched by the story of Jesus’ birth and the pageant turns into the best that anyone has ever seen.

Tyring to decide who will run the pageant. Karen in the middle.

Supper at Grace's house.

Grace telling Bob that he WILL be attending the pageant.

Women's Choir. Karen in upper middle.

The Herdman kids.

Getting the role of the Angel.

Fire at the church! (Karen gets to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater!)

Trying to explain how cigar smoke is different than wood smoke.

The Pageant Choir. Karen is middle row, far right.

The Pageant: Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus.

The Pageant: The Angel "Pushes" the Shepherds to the stable.

The Pageant: The Wise Men bow before baby Jesus.

The Pageant: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. The gifts the Wise Men (Herdman kids) bring.